A Matter of Strength
by SnowLion no Miko
Summary: Videl has a nightmare that hits close to home. Who better to help comfort her than Gohan? GohanVidel, oneshot


_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own Dragon Ball Z._

_**Summary: Videl has a nightmare that hits close to home. Who better to help comfort her than Gohan? GohanVidel, oneshot**_

_I think the DBZ bug has struck again! I love this series, and the GhV pairing is one that I just…__**adore**__, for lack of better words. Haha. I hope that everyone enjoys this little fic of mine!_

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**A Matter of Strength**

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_Videl cried out as she slung her leg into the giant's chest. Her knee should have knocked the wind out of her opponent, Spopovitch, but he only grinned and grasped her leg just in the crook of her knee, slinging her around and around several times before releasing her, letting her skid across the ring and to the edge._

_She had been spared from losing - which was good. But she was in a rather precarious position now. _

_She lay on her back, her head hanging off the side of the cement ring, her eyes clenched shut in pain._

_This was going downhill, and fast, she knew. But she just couldn't find it in herself to surrender. _

_She couldn't._

_She __**wouldn't**__._

"_Pathetic."_

_She knew that voice. Strange, it wasn't the kind and caring cadence that she was familiar with. It was a fierce and disappointed tone that rang through her head, rattling her bones, shattering her self-confidence._

_Forcing her eyes open, Videl connected her gaze with the calm, confident, and slightly conceited face of Son Gohan._

"_G-Gohan…" She stuttered, confused. He was staring at her with a predatory look, one that told her that she was on the weaker end of the food chain, and the energy around him crackled. _

"_You're weak." Gohan said, and it wasn't a statement of her current condition, it wasn't said kindly, with concern. It was said as a __**fact**__. "Quit now. You're useless."_

"_How…how could you…say that?" Videl croaked feebly. The words had cut her more than any of her opponent's attacks. "Gohan…"_

"_Just give __**up**__, already!"_

_She winced at his voice, clenching her eyes shut to get away from the painful image of this boy…this boy she cared so much for, calling her __**weak**__._

_Before she could answer, she winced for a completely different reason - Spopovitch was pulling her back into the ring…_

"Ah!"

Videl woke with a start, wide blue eyes staring off into the utter darkness of her room, sweat sliding down her brow and soaking the sheets. She leaned forward, gasping for breath, as her fingers wound themselves into the fabric of her blanket. She ran a hand through her messy black bangs, tangled due to her tossing and turning in her sleep. She felt a slight tinge of relief that at least they weren't long anymore. She rather liked the short, boyish 'do that she had adapted.

That dream… That was the first time she'd ever had one as intense and _defeating_ as that one.

Of course, since her match with Spopovitch, she had several dreams - or, rather, _nightmares_ - about the fight. She remembered everything. The physical pain, the emotional pain, the…

No, she wouldn't think of it.

But this one…it was too hard to _not _think of.

Because this dream was completely different. Of course, her behemoth of an opponent was the same, with his dark, dark eyes and his cackling grin and unending strength, but…

_Gohan_ was in this dream.

And it wasn't the usual grinning, supportive Gohan. It wasn't the Gohan that she cared for. It wasn't the Gohan that had always been there for her.

This Gohan was completely different.

This Gohan had piercing, violent, onyx eyes, and the ever-present grin on his face was no where to be seen. He had looked at her with cold eyes, and told her that she wasn't good enough. Told her that she was _useless_. It was almost as if he and Vegeta had switched bodies in some sick kind of experiment.

And the fact that he was so cruel to her…it hurt her. It cut her deeper than any of the superficial wounds caused by Spopovitch ever could - and she hated the fact that she cared so much.

_Such a __**girl**__. _Videl thought, though it was truer than any other thing she'd thought so far.

She leaned back into her large, lavish bed, tried to bury her thoughts in her pillows, not wanting them to surface any other time, but Gohan's strange, violent words and expressions kept peeking into her subconscious.

Rolling onto her side, Videl's eyes just wouldn't stay closed. Every time she tried, they ended up wide open and staring out into the darkness of her room.

Growling to herself, she flipped the covers off of her, and jumped lithely out of her bed.

She put on a black hooded sweatshirt to cover the white tanktop she usually slept in, and opened the window before jumping out into the inky black night.

The cool, chilly night air blew through her short hair, fanning it around her cheeks and face, and nipped at her bare legs that had just a pair of boy shorts protecting them from the elements. Flying was definitely one of her favorite things to do when she needed to think. Or just when she wanted to have some fun. She was always grateful for Gohan teaching her, even if it was under strange pretenses.

She looked at the lights below - the sign of her favorite fast food place, the hospital, the various offices and whatnot. Videl shot past them until only trees surrounded her, creating a rural landscape that she enjoyed more than she ever thought she would.

It wasn't until she came upon a familiar house that she realized where she had been headed.

Videl almost let out a gasp when she saw the Son residence in front of her. Subconsciously, without even deciding it, this was where she'd wanted to go, and that's where her proverbial wings took her. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she realized that even when she wanted to get away, she wanted to get away to _him_.

_Geez. Talk about pathetic. _Videl thought to herself as she heard the faint chirping of crickets below her. She had paused in mid-air out of shock when she had realized the Son house was right there in front of her. When she realized that that was where she was headed all this time.

Shrugging, she flew slower, approaching the house as if it were a sleeping tyrant. _Might as well go see him…since I came this far - hopefully I won't bother him…_

She flew up to the house, rising to the second story where Gohan's room resided. Cupping her hands around her eyes, she glanced inside and around the nerdy Saiyan's room, finding nothing. Floating backwards just a bit, with her lips pursed and her eyebrows knitted together, she crossed her arms.

"Now, where could that moron be?" She muttered as she continued to float back, little by little, until she hit something. A very hard, muscular something. She spun around, fists clenched, sleepy eyes alert.

"Moron, huh?" Son Gohan laughed, "I had no clue that you thought that much of me, Videl."

All the tension she had been prepared to release was gone in an instant when she saw his easy, carefree smile. She let her shoulders slump lightly, and she let out a rough sigh, "What are you doing out here?"

"I should ask you the same thing." Gohan told her, his eyes kind but curious.

Videl glared at him, "I asked first."

"Yes, but I live here." Gohan remarked innocently. When he saw that Videl wasn't going to give in anytime soon, he let out a tired sigh, "I couldn't sleep. So I went for a walk."

Videl cocked her head to the side, curious, but not wanting to pry. But soon her expression returned to normal, and she replied, "I couldn't sleep, either. So I flew."

Gohan grinned in true Son fashion, "And came here."

"I dunno…I just jumped out of the window and…ended up here." Videl felt her cheeks turning red, and she cursed herself for this peculiar habit that just happened to rear its head whenever she was around the half-Saiyan.

"You must've wanted to come here…or you wouldn't be here." Gohan said, scratching the side of his head, "And you certainly wouldn't be looking in my window."

"Yeah - well…I…UGH!" Videl grunted, exasperated and lost for words.

Gohan chuckled at her, and he smiled, "Want to take a walk with me?"

"Uh…what?" Videl questioned, but Gohan was already descending to the ground below. It felt just plain rude to fly off now, so she just sighed exasperatedly and followed suit, landing expertly on the earth below.

Gohan was starting to walk in the opposite direction, toward the front of the house, and then into the large field surrounding it. Videl followed, jogging lightly to catch up with his longer stride, and then walking side by side with him.

They walked for a while in silence. Frequently, Videl would look at him out of the corner of her eye, and see that he was completely preoccupied with the beauty that surrounded him. The trees that bowed just slightly in the nighttime breeze, the glittering stars above them, the wind that ruffled his hair.

Videl, however, was preoccupied for another reason. She couldn't _stop _staring at him once she started. She'd always find new things to memorize about him - the way his lips would curve into a kind smile when he saw something he particularly liked, the way his hair would blow slightly in the wind, the way the moonlight played on his strong, handsome features.

She tore her gaze away from him, feeling the heat pool on her cheeks yet again, and cursing herself for being so predictable.

"So, are you going to tell me what brought you here?" Gohan asked after a while. The Son house was just a speck in the distance, and they were coming upon a crystal clear pond that reflected the large orb of the moon in its surface.

Videl paused slightly, before sighing and looking at Gohan, "I…" She growled at herself. "It's stupid, really. It's not a big deal."

Gohan stopped at the edge of the water and crouched down, picking up a stone that embedded itself in the muck around the pond. He tossed it up slowly, eyeing it with a childlike gaze that was both serious and innocent at the same time, before he skipped the rock to the other end of the pond. Videl watched in awe. "It must be a big deal if it brought you out here…"

Videl clamped her bottom lip between her teeth, "I…okay, ugh…"

Gohan waited patiently for a bit, and then rocked back onto his heels, plopping himself firmly into the tall grass, lying down with his hands behind his head. Somehow, Videl got the urge to go sit beside him, so she did. Her bare feet made hardly a sound as she lowered herself down to sit beside the warrior.

"Don't laugh," she urged. "I…had a nightmare."

Gohan turned his head to look at her, slightly shocked that she would admit that to him, but then his heart soared, feeling his closeness to her become even more tightly knit. He waited patiently, watching her as she looked straight ahead, crystal blue eyes the same color as the water in front of them. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, and her arms were wrapped around them. Her mouth pursed for a minute, before she continued, "It was about…my fight with Spopovitch."

Gohan tensed, his mind going into a slightly darker mode than it had been before. The images of her fight with that utter _bastard_ were forever etched into the teen's mind. It was one of the things he hated the most.

"I have them a lot." Videl admitted, leaning her chin down on her arms, "Most of them are basically him kicking the shit outta me." She winced and Gohan tensed tighter still at her choice of words. Videl still recalling the incident too well, "But tonight's was…different."

Gohan sat up now, thinking the situation was too intense for him to just listen to it while he was supposedly relaxed in the damp grass.

"I…" Videl looked to be warring with herself over the choice of words, "Well, to put it bluntly, Gohan, _you _were in it."

Though the thought should have made him happy - so happy that he would probably run a lap around the world - the way she said it made him feel worried. It was as if his cameo in her dream wasn't something to celebrate about. It was something that made her uneasy, made her doubt herself.

"You…" She choked on a laugh, a bitter and self-loathing sound, "You told me I was weak. That I was useless. Pathetic. Funny how that was the worst part of the dream." Her lips twisted into a grimace. "I don't know why it bothered me so much, but it did…I couldn't go back to sleep, so I flew. And here I am. I don't even know why I'm here, but I am."

Gohan stared at her for a good few moments after her admission. He couldn't think about what else to say except for the one thing that had been on his mind ever since that incident had occurred.

"I could've killed him for what he did to you." His words were feral, wild and uncontrolled, rumbling through the night air. They caused shivers to break across Videl's skin, and her heart to beat that much faster. She had no doubt in her mind that he meant what he said.

Videl dared a glance at him, her eyes wide at his sudden honesty. His eyes were intense and large, boring into hers with a ferocity that made her stomach do flip-flops.

After a while, Gohan seemed to have calmed down somewhat, and then he sighed, hunching his back and leaning forward. "That was the only thing going through my mind then - when that happened. Not that you were weak. That thought never crossed my mind. At first, before everything started to go south, I was impressed with how strong you were. I always was, Videl." She watched as a grin ghosted his mouth, his teeth gleamed in the moonlight, "I was cheering the whole time. The words _weak _or _pathetic_ never even entered my mind. I was proud of you, of your skill as a fighter. Your strength in body and mind."

Gohan looked over to the black haired girl with a sheepish grin. "That clear things up for you?"

Blinking owlishly, Videl had to clear her throat before she could speak again, "Uh…yes…thank you."

"It's the truth." Gohan said, giving her a smile that caught her off guard. The smile in itself dispelled the serious atmosphere, and she gave him a light one in return.

"Heh…I'm embarrassed to say that I feel a lot better now." Videl said, breaking the stare, and looking out at the pond.

"Yeah…it's okay, though." Gohan started, looking out at the water as well. "Nightmares get a lot easier to deal with when you have someone to talk to about them…like…" The half-Saiyan looked pressed for words, but he ended up saying, "After I beat Cell, I used to have nightmares all the time. I used to feel guilty for my father's death - after all, I felt that it was because of my own cockiness that I let the fight go that far, anyway… But I would talk to Piccolo and then I would feel a whole lot better…"

Videl looked at Gohan, her eyes wide - she had never expected to get him to open up about _that _with just her small confession. Immediately, Gohan's face turned sheepish, and he scratched the back of his head, "Well, what I'm trying to say is," he turned to face Videl. "I'm here. To talk. I know it's hard to talk with your dad about those things, so if you ever need anyone…I'm here."

The girl fighter felt something so overwhelming, an emotion of adoration so strong that it was almost physically painful. She let in a sharp breath at his expression and closed her eyes, a serene smile curving her lips.

"You always seem to know what to say." She admitted, and there was no begrudging sense to her tone. Just awed gratitude.

"Heh, I try." Gohan grinned and Videl once again felt that strange, compressing feeling on her chest.

_Idiot. _She snarled at herself.

But she couldn't bring herself to leave - this was all too peaceful, and she was reluctant to just fly off. So, she kept her pride in check and said, "Do you care if I stay? …it's peaceful here, and I don't think I can go back to sleep, really."

Gohan looked at her, slightly shocked, but his face melted into a soft smile, "Sure. I'll stay with you."

A blush streaked her cheeks, "Wha - no, you don't have to…"

"I _want _to, Videl."

She knitted her eyebrows in fake defiance, but then ended up saying, "Fine. If you want to."

She had to admit, she wanted him to stay, too.

So she just leaned back, placing her hands on the earth behind her and resting her weight on her palms. Gohan leaned back into a lying position, his hands behind his head as they were before. In just a few minutes, however, his breathing evened out, slowed lightly, and she knew he had dozed off.

Videl looked over at him, and felt an unwilling smile cross her features.

Glancing at his face, peaceful and undisturbed during his sleep, she still couldn't bring herself to leave.

As she watched the sky lighten around them, Videl could only ponder what that simple feeling meant.

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_**End.**_

_And there you have it! My second attempt at a GhV, and I really enjoyed writing it. Funny how both of them center around the whole Videl/Spopovitch thing. But it's different because this kind of focuses on her feelings after the whole thing, where the other fic was just Gohan's feelings during their fight. Anyway, I would love to hear your opinions and everything! All the reviews' words mean so much, and…yeah. Haha. That's pretty much all I have to say here…_

_Thanks for reading!_


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